Sheriff Rahr jabs at county exec with praise for Nickels

Greg Nickels may not be the most popular mayor right now, but he apparently gets kudos from King County Sheriff Sue Rahr.

Rahr sent out a news release Monday commending Nickels for continuing Seattle’s commitment to hire 105 more police officers by 2012, despite having to cut an additional $13 million from this year’s budget.

“I applaud you for making public safety a top priority in the face of difficult budget decisions,” Rahr said she wrote to Nickels in an e-mail. “It’s refreshing to see an elected public official take action that demonstrates a real commitment to the safety and well-being of the people we serve.”

Rahr, however, has had little praise for the way Executive Ron Sims’ office has handled budget cuts. Her department was forced to cut 47 deputy positions to help plug the county’s staggering $90 million deficit. The Executive’s Office has asked all general fund-supported agencies to prepare for more across-the-board cuts next year, with a projected $50 million deficit. The sheriff could lose another $7 million.

Rahr and other elected criminal justice officials have argued that if the county made cuts more in line with public priorities, they would be asked to chop proportionally less from their budgets than other agencies. Rahr said she’s been forced to stop investigating most property crimes and close specialized units. The Executive Office has said she’s over-dramatizing the impact and trying to stir up public sympathy to for more money.

Criminal justice costs, including the courts, prosecutors and public defense, account for about 70 percent of the county’s general fund, so they’re the biggest target. The county’s financial structure also is different. The county must provide expensive services to unincorporated urban areas that don’t return as much in revenue. It also has fewer revenue sources than Seattle and is heavily reliant on a real-estate excise tax, which was hit hard by the economy, and property taxes, which are capped at 1-percent increases every year.